COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : High Drama as No. 2 North Carolina Defeats Texas, 96-92

The playoffs came early to Chapel Hill, N.C.

Jerry Stackhouse scored a career-high 28 points and made several key plays down the stretch Saturday as No. 2 North Carolina escaped with a 96-92 victory over Texas in the kind of rapid-paced, tension-filled game usually seen in March.

“For the first game of the season it was played like an NCAA tournament game,” said Texas Coach Tom Penders. “The effort by both teams--kids were flying all over the floor and fighting for loose balls and diving on both sides--it was great basketball.”

The Tar Heels, who won their 66th consecutive home opener, trailed at halftime and through most of the second half until Stackhouse, a sophomore, rallied his team, which could become No. 1 following top-ranked Arkansas’ 104-80 loss to No. 3 Massachusetts on Friday.

“I could care less about that,” Stackhouse said when asked if the Tar Heels should be No. 1. “Give it to whoever. . . . I don’t take much stock in those polls. . . . The No. 1 team last year didn’t win the national championship--that was us.”

Texas, with three starters back from the team that went 26-8 last season, led for the final time at 87-86 with 4:18 left. Stackhouse, who played the entire second half, then blocked a shot and got a return feed from fellow sophomore Rasheed Wallace for a dunk that gave the Tar Heels the lead for good.

North Carolina’s three sophomores combined for 66 points and all had career highs, with Wallace scoring 20 points and getting 13 rebounds and Jeff McInnis scoring 18.

Texas got 26 points from Terrence Rencher and 25 from Roderick Anderson.

“Nothing is easy against that team,” said Tar Heel Coach Dean Smith.

No. 4 Kentucky 124, Tennessee Martin 50--Jared Prickett scored 21 points to lead seven Kentucky players in double figures as the Wildcats overwhelmed the error-prone Pacers in Lexington, Ky.

Kentucky scored 64 points off 42 turnovers by Tennessee-Martin in registering one of the most lopsided victories in school history. Kentucky’s biggest margin of victory was 77 points over Georgia, 143-66, in 1956.

Kentucky had a 40-24 advantage in rebounds and committed only eight turnovers. The Wildcats made 47 of 82 shots (57 percent).

Tony Delk scored 17 points for Kentucky, followed by Rodrick Rhodes with 16, Antoine Walker with 15, Andre Riddick and Mark Pope with 11 each and Walter McCarty with 10.

No. 5 Arizona 73, No. 19 Oklahoma State 63--Ray Owes and Damon Stoudamire combined for 35 points as the Wildcats defeated the Cowboys to take fourth place in the Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage.

Arizona (2-1) withstood a second-half three-point barrage by Oklahoma State’s Randy Rutherford, who was six of eight on three-pointers in the final 20 minutes and finished with 23 points.

Owes paced Arizona with 18 points, while Stoudamire had 17, Joseph Blair 13 and Miles Simon 11. Blair also had 11 rebounds.

Bryant Reeves had 21 points for Oklahoma State (1-2).

No. 8 Duke 93, Northeastern 70--Cherokee Parks scored a career-high 27 points, and freshman Ricky Price sparked a run late in the first half to lead the Blue Devils over the Huskies in Durham, N.C.

Parks and Erik Meek held the advantage on the inside for the Blue Devils, playing their second game in as many days. But the Huskies didn’t let Duke’s man-to-man pressure faze them for the opening 15 minutes as they took an early lead and tied the score five times in their season opener.

Duke took control in the second half, stretching its lead to 26, and Northeastern got no closer than 17. Meek finished with 14 points on six-of-eight shooting, Price had 13 and Blakeney 12.

Harrell led Northeastern with 22 points.

No. 9 Kansas 83, San Diego 65--Sean Pearson scored 16 points to lead five players in double figures as the Jayhawks routed the Toreros in Lawrence, Kan.

Kansas (1-0) won its 22nd consecutive opener at Allen Field House and improved to 39-1 in home openers.

The Toreros shot only 39% and also struggled holding onto the ball, committing 22 turnovers that led to 33 Kansas points.

Doug Harris led San Diego with 21 points.

No. 12 Cincinnati 108, Austin Peay 73--Freshman Danny Fortson scored 25 points in his college debut and anchored a 61-point first half that carried the Bearcats to an easy victory over the the Governors in Cincinnati.

Cincinnati had six players in double figures. Jermaine Savage led Austin Peay with 17 points.

No. 15 Wisconsin 86, Wright State 63--Andy Kilbride scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half in Madison, Wis. as the Badgers won in Stan Van Gundy’s regular-season debut as coach.

Kilbride hit all five of his three-point shots in the second half, helping Wisconsin offset sluggish games by its stars, Michael Finley and Rashard Griffith, who scored 15 and nine points, respectively.

No. 21 Villanova 82, Louisville 81--Kerry Kittles’ 27 points and a barrage of three-pointers powered the Wildcats to the one-point victory over the Cardinals in the third-place game of the Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage.

After hitting just one of seven from three-point range in the first half, the Wildcats buried 10 of 13 in the second half, including seven in the first eight minutes.

Still, it took three free throws by Jonathan Haynes with 19 seconds left to secure the victory.

DeJuan Wheat led Louisville with 24 points.

No. 22 Georgia Tech 112, Florida A&M; 56--Travis Best scored nine consecutive points as the Yellow Jackets jumped to leads of 14-0 and 25-2 and set a school record with 24 steals en route to the lopsided victory in Atlanta.

Matt Harping had six of the steals. The Rattlers didn’t score more than four points in a row until the final two minutes when they scored five unanswered points.

Best led all scorers with 20 points. Ricky Davis had 13 for the Rattlers.

No. 24 Wake Forest 75, North Carolina Greensboro 55--Randolph Childress scored 26 points to lead the Demon Deacons over the Spartans in Winston-Salem, N.C.

The season opener was only the second meeting between the schools, which are only 25 miles apart.

UNC-Greensboro led, 47-45, with 12:36 left, but then Wake Forest freshman Tony Rutland hit a three-pointer and followed with a steal and layup to make it 52-45. The Deacons were never again threatened.

AROUND THE NATION

Ryan Minor scored 23 points and Oklahoma opened the second half with a 16-2 run to break away from Coppin State and win, 85-74, in Norman, Okla. in the debut of Sooner Coach Kelvin Sampson. . . . Modie Cox hit a short floater in the lane with 31 seconds to play as Buffalo posted what might be its biggest win since turning Division I in 1991-92 with a 71-68 decision over Rutgers in Piscataway, N.J. . . . Creighton snapped a school-record 30-game road losing streak by opening the season with a 68-61 victory over Oral Roberts.